Eichler Remodeling Photos

Almost two years ago my wife and I had a major interior remodel done on our 1959 A.Quincy Jones-designed Eichler in San Mateo. Recently we had a professional photographer, David Toerge (who does some photo work for CA Modern) shoot our house. I thought some of you might enjoy seeing the photos. Start here http://totheweb.com/eichler/e_house/3_atrium1.html and then to see more photos click the right-pointing arrows at the top of the photo.

Barry, I came across your website about a year ago and it was a pleasant surprise recently to see the new pics. Your place looks wonderful.

We are well beyond the range of Eichlers up here in Vancouver BC, but our west coast modern architecture of the 50s and 60s incorporates many similar design characteristics including the exposed wood ceilings.

I am converting the former carport in my fifties post and beam rancher to living space. The cedar TIG decking and 4"x9" fir beams run from the existing house into the carport/addition. We used Smart Strip to remove 5 layers of paint from the carport ceiling/beams (something I never want to repeat, although the product does work well).

The ceiling and beams in the existing living area are entirely covered with a dark rust semi-transparent stain that could be decades old. My initial plan was to match this colour in the addition. However, I'm thinking maybe now is the time to change the ceiling/beam colours to something like you have in your house, both to add more light and to highlight the beam structure.

Do you have an email to which I could send you some questions about your ceiling restoration that aren't covered on your website? (I can't see any way to send you a private message). Thanks.

Jennifer, using paint stripper to remove paint is, in my opinion, a horrible process. I did it for the ceiling in my very small second bathroom and said "never again". For the beams in my house I used a special tool which I describe on this page http://totheweb.com/eichler/2006_remodel/beams.html. On that page, to view more photos of my remodeling process, click the arrows at the top of the photo.

I am converting the former carport in my fifties post and beam rancher to living space. The cedar TIG decking and 4"x9" fir beams run from the existing house into the carport/addition. We used Smart Strip to remove 5 layers of paint from the carport ceiling/beams (something I never want to repeat, although the product does work well).

The ceiling and beams in the existing living area are entirely covered with a dark rust semi-transparent stain that could be decades old. My initial plan was to match this colour in the addition. However, I'm thinking maybe now is the time to change the ceiling/beam colours to something like you have in your house, both to add more light and to highlight the beam structure.

Do you have an email to which I could send you some questions about your ceiling restoration that aren't covered on your website? (I can't see any way to send you a private message). Thanks.

Barry, thanks, I will be in touch by email. I did read about your Paint Shaver tool a year ago and tried to source it here to no avail.

For anyone interested, I just want to clarify that although paint stripping is a horrible job the "environmentally friendly" Smart Strip product is probably as benign a product as you can get while still being effective at removing paint. It is non-toxic, doesn't give off fumes or burn skin, and is easy to use. The horrible part is the sheer physical effort of scraping off the softened paint layers and the tedious job of trying to scrub off the remaining paint residue, all while working overhead. Smart Strip is made by the same manufacturer of Peelaway 7 but is supposed to work without the paper overlay. We found it still needed covering up or it would dry out too fast. Thin poly was even more effective than the paper, and much cheaper.